Portable electronic devices have become a near ubiquitous aspect of everyday modern living. Many people carry a portable electronic device (such as a cellular telephone, personal digital assistant, smartphone, netbook or laptop) with them everywhere they go. These portable electronic devices are often capable of communicating information to other electronic devices using common network communications technologies, such as wireless communications networks and wired communications networks.
Some portable electronic devices share information about the user of the portable electronic device to easily inform other people about the user's current activities. This information may be referred to generally as presence information, or personal information. Some users are increasingly happy to share intimate details of their daily lives with anyone who is interested. These users expect that their portable electronic device will share personal information, often without their ongoing permission or specific instruction.
There may be times when the user of a portable electronic device desires privacy while still being able to use the portable electronic device for other purposes. Current portable electronic devices do not offer a useful, reliable and simple mechanism to achieve a desired level of privacy.